Genetic analysis of mitochondrial ND5 gene of siberian ibex (Capra Sibirica, Pallas, 1776) population in Mongolia

The Siberian ibex (Capra sibirica) from Central Asia is believed to be the most ancient species of the genus Capra. In Mongolia, it is distributed in the areas of Mongolian Altai, Gobi-Altai, Dzungaria, Altai, Khan Khuhii, Khoridal Saridag and Ulaan Taiga as well as in the desert and semi-desert steppe zones of Dundgobi and Dornogobi aimags (provinces). In the current study, we investigated the mitochondrial ND5 gene fragments of the Siberian ibex population from different parts of Mongolia. Nine haplotypes, including 6 shared and 3 unique haplotypes were identified among these populations. Furthermore, Tajima’s statistics and Fu’s statistics did not reveal significant positive value across the population, indicating population decline and balancing selection.In the phylogenetic tree by 9 haplotypes, no separated clusters were generated. In addition, nucleotide diversity was 0.015, haplotype diversity was 0.86 and the average number of differences in nucleotides was 8.2 in the overall population. These results suggest that genetic diversity across all the populations was low, while haplotype diversity and the average number of differences in nucleotides were high

Genetic comparison of Altai and Gobi argali sheep (Ovis ammon) populations using mitochondrial and microsatellite markers: Implication on conservation

Argali sheep is an ungulate, which inhabits the north, west, south and central regions of Mongolia. There are two major populations (Altai and Gobi) in Mongolia, but their taxonomic classification as subspecies is often disputed among researchers. Furthermore, there is no recent study about the population genetic structure of argali sheep in Mongolia. In the present study, we have investigated genetic diversity and difference between Altai and Gobi argali populations using mitochondrial control region hyper variable segment (HVS) sequence (598bp) and 3 microsatellite markers. Mitochondrial HVS haplotype analysis showed high haplotype diversity (0.982±0.012) and low nucleotide diversity (0.02589). In microsatellite analysis, total of 9 alleles were found across all loci while mean Ho were 0.59±0.13 for Altai and 0.53±0.1 for Gobi populations, indicating low allelic diversity with moderate heterozygosity. Neighbor-joining tree separated haplotypes into two clusters, Altai and Gobi population, implying distinct genetic difference between the two subspecies. Additionally, Pairwise FST and Kimura-2 parameter showed 0.127 and 0.0413±0.0068, respectively. These genetic distance analyses hinted genetic difference between Altai and Gobi populations are in subspecies level. In summary, mitochondrial HVS and microsatellite analysis demonstrated that Altai and Gobi populations had low genetic diversity but might be genetically distinct from each other in subspecies level, suggesting conservation should be separately managed

Anticancer Activities of Ginsenosides, the Main Active Components of Ginseng

Cancer incidence rate has been increasing drastically in recent years. One of the many cancer treatment methods is chemotherapy. Traditional medicine, in the form of complementary and alternative therapy, is actively used to treat cancer, and many herbs and active ingredients of such therapies are being intensely studied to integrate them into modern medicine. Ginseng is traditionally used as a nourishing tonic and for treating various diseases in Asian countries. The therapeutic potential of ginseng in modern medicine has been studied extensively; the main bioactive component of ginseng is ginsenosides, which have gathered attention, particularly for their prospects in the treatment of fatal diseases such as cancer. Ginsenosides displayed their anticancer and antimetastatic properties not only via restricting cancer cell proliferation, viability, invasion, and migration but also by promoting apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, and autophagy in several cancers, such as breast, brain, liver, gastric, and lung cancer. Additionally, ginsenosides can work synergistically with already existing cancer therapies. Thus, ginsenosides may be used alone or in combination with other pharmaceutical agents in new therapeutic strategies for cancer. To date however, there is little systematic summary available for the anticancer effects and therapeutic potential of ginsenosides. Therefore, we have reviewed and discussed all available literature in order to facilitate further research of ginsenosides in this manuscript

<em>In vitro </em>anti-inflammatory activity of Mongolian horse faecal hotwater extract

133-139In Mongolia, horses mostly consume herbal plants that are abundant in pastures. Some pharmaceutical substances that are not absorbed can be excreted in the faeces. Therefore, the faeces of Mongolian horses contain various pharmaceutical substances and have been traditionally used as a home remedy to treat back pain and inflammatory diseases. The present study investigated the anti-inflammatory effect of Mongolian horse faecal hot water (HFW) extracts on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced murine RAW 264.7 macrophages. Anti-oxidant activity was screened using an established DPPH assay. Viability and nitric oxide (NO) release of cells treated with 50, 100, 200, and 400 μg/mL HFW were measured using CCK-8 and Griess reagents, respectively. Finally, RT-PCR and Western blot analyses were used to respectively assess the mRNA and protein expression of inflammation-related genes including iNOS, COX-2, NF-κB, and pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α). HFW extracts displayed pronounced anti-oxidant activity, which increased in a dose-dependent manner. HFW treatment had no effect on non-stimulated RAW264.7 cells at any concentration, while the treatment dose-dependently inhibited cell proliferation as well as NO production in LPS-stimulated cells. Moreover, mRNA and protein expressions of NF-κB and downstream target genes (iNOS, COX-2, IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α) were decreased in a dose-dependentmanner. The collective results indicate that hot water extract of Mongolian horse faeces has anti-oxidant activity and exhibits anti-inflammatory activity via inhibition of the NF-κB pathway. HFW should be further explored for the management of inflammatory pathogenesis